Einleitung

It’s not that difficult. Once you have gathered the stuff you need you should do this job in three hours or in an afternoon at max.

Inform yourself about thermal paste and choose the one you prefer. GC-Extreme paste is not conductive and so nothing should happen if you drop some of it on the motherboard but it is not the only one and the range is wide.

An antistatic wrist band is compulsory. It does protect your components.

A Philips screwdriver #00.

These are the three items that you must gather before you start. All of the other tools are there to do the job at its best and with no risks. My advice is to take them too but if you can’t, those three ─ and a lot of care ─ should be enough. For instance, before that ArctiClean was invented it was common to use isopropyl alcohol 99% with paper towels to remove the old thermal paste and I guess it still is. Then, also soft brushes used to paint canvas could be good substitutes for an antistatic brush, especially if they are made of animal bristles.

And watch a lot of videos about how to apply thermal paste. That’s all. Your laptop would definitely benefit from it in terms of wear and durability. It is worth the money and the time you will spend on it and moreover you will get to know better your device!

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Remove the two front rubber pads by levering them with a metal spudger. They are glued to the base enclosure.

When you will be installing the two rubber pads again, pay attention to their difference. Search for the letter "R" impressed on the base of one of them and place the latter in the bay which displays the "R".

Using a PH #00 remove the eight screws that secure the base enclosure to the laptop (M2.5x5). Group these screws together.

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By gently levering with opening tools, disengage the tabs that secure the base enclosure to the laptop. Start with the longer edge.

Use your hands too if you like and feel free to lift or turn the laptop if you need. Nothing will come off from it in this step!

Once you have completed the long edge, proceed along the short edges. When also these two sides will have been unlocked, the base enclosure will come out from the rear edge easily.

It is easy to break tabs during this operation. Once you have removed the base enclosure, look inside the laptop and check for broken tabs. If you find them, remove them immediately because if you keep on working, they could manage to hide in narrow places where you could not see them anymore and they could cause damages in the future.

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Before dismounting anything it is better to clean gently all the parts. Are you grounded? If yes, take an antistatic brush and dust off all the dirt you see.

I use the brush combined with a low-powered vacuum that works through a DIY rubber tube with a small grid on top. Using a vacuum cleaner could be dangerous because it produces a lot of static electricity and others prefer to use air cans or air compressors. Inform yourself about this matter and make your own choice.

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Disconnect the fan connector. It would be best if you follow this method but if you do not properly manage to grab the connector with your fingers, take two pairs of tweezers and grab the four wires as close as possible to the connector ─ as it is shown in the second picture ─ and pull them straight up resolutely.

Using a PH #00 remove the two screws (M2.5×4.5) and group them together.

Using a PH #00 remove the last screw (M2.5×6.5) that secure the fan to the top cover. Take notice of this screw because it is longer than the other two.

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Using a PH #00 unfasten the eight screws that secure the heatsink to the motherboard. The screw marked as red is the first one that has to be unfastened. Nearby this screw you will notice that the number 1 has been impressed on the heatsink. Therefore, when unscrewing, follow the numerical order.

Do not remove these screws from the heatsink completely. We only have to unfasten them.

Once you are done with the screws, grab the heatsink and the fan as it is shown in the second picture, tilt them up a bit and carefully slide them along the motherboard until the fan is free of the metal plate which was marked as green in the first picture. Then, rise them up and put them away.

The heatsink and the fan must come out together from the laptop. Be extremely careful when you are removing them because now there is only a thin stripe of tape that keeps them together! Therefore they could suddenly split them up in two and hit the motherboard or other components.

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Take the ArctiClean #1 labeled as Thermal Material Remover and a clean microfiber cloth.

Put drops of the liquid #1 on the CPU's metal surface until it will be covered entirely and then wait 60 seconds. In the meanwhile look out for any leakage that may reach the motherboard and stop it. Once the minute has passed, clean the CPU with the microfiber cloth. Repeat the whole operation until you don't see any gray stain on the cloth.

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Using the tweezers remove the dust which is outside of the heatsink's ventilation box. Then, using an air compressor or a vacuum, dust the box off until you are able to clearly see trough it.

Finally, remove the old thermal paste from the heatsink using the ArctiClean #1 and repeating the same 60-seconds operation you carried out on the CPU and GPU. Clean it until you can not see any gray stain on the cloth.

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Block the wings of the fan ─ I have used a piece of iron wire but a cotton swab or a pencil would work too ─ and dust it off using an air compressor or a vacuum.

Do not do the latter operation without blocking the wings otherwise the fan could be damaged by the turning speed produced by the high airflow generated by an air compressor. Moreover, never try to clean the fan with an air compressor when the laptop is not dismounted, because that speed could generate electricity that could damage the motherboard!

Once you have dust the fan off, unblock it and clean each wing using cotton swabs dipped in alcohol 70% in order to remove the residual dirt. If it is afterwards necessary, block the wings and dust the fan off again using an air compressor to remove eventual cotton-fibers leftovers.

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Take the ArctiClean #2 labeled as Thermal Surface Purifier and a clean microfiber cloth.

Apply the liquid #2 on the whole metal surfaces of the CPU and GPU and then ─ without waiting ─ wipe them gently with the cloth until they are dry. Repeat this operation another time if you see dirt on the cloth.

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Probably the black stripe which was over the CPU capacitors and the black square sticker which was over the GPU capacitors are no longer adhesive. Each time one changes the thermal paste it is always better to substitute them but you could clean these stickers and apply them instead of new thermal tape if they manage to stick firmly. Up to you

Take the polyimide tape and cut it in pieces that would fit the areas in which the capacitors are. Lay these pieces of tape over the capacitors. Then, using a spudger, gently press the tape down and squeeze out the air which is among the tape, the processor and the capacitors.

If you have touched the metal surfaces of the processors with your fingers while you were applying the tape, clean them again with the ArctiClean #2 because the substances produced by our skin could weaken the thermal compound.

Finally put the fan and the heatsink together and apply a momentary stripe of tape over the edge they have in common in order to keep them together while you will be mounting them.

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There are several opinions about the proper way to apply thermal paste. This is because each setup demands its own application. It would be a good thing here to inform yourself about this diatribe and make your own choices. This is an old guide that explains this matter clearly. The following operation is the mere way I did. Now, when rendering with Keyshot, my laptop reaches 89°C instead of 95°C.

Take the thermal paste syringe and remove the cap. Place it over the GPU and lightly press the piston down at a distance of 1 cm from the surface trying to lay down a sphere of thermal compound not bigger than 2 millimeters of diameter!

Once you have pressed the syringe for the first time the thermal compound would probably leak from it continuously. Therefore, when you are moving the syringe over the laptop hold always a piece of paper under it so that you can prevent any possible leakage over the motherboard.

Repeat the operation on the CPU depositing a vertical narrow line instead of a sphere. Then, if you are not satisfied with the first application, you can clean the surfaces again with ArctiClean and repeat the application as many times as you wish.

As you can see I haven't been very good at laying down the compound and I had to remove the excesses of thermal paste using a small plastic spoon (the one which comes with the GC-Extreme syringe). Nevertheless it still looks plenty of thermal compound in the picture. This is not the reality. Deposit only a small amount of compound!

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Take the heatsink-fan block you have prepared with two hands. Tilt it a bit and firstly insert the fan under the metal plate labeled as green.

Once you have placed the fan as it is shown in the first picture, carefully lay the heatsink down by simply accompanying its tilting movement. Correct its trajectory in order to center the screws and the holes if it is necessary.

Fasten the 8 screws of the heatsink using a PH #00. Start from the screw labeled as red and then follow the numerical order which is impressed on the heatsink.

Do not overwork these and all of the other screws when reassembling. Do not apply heavy pressure with your hand. Simply turn the screw until you run against the stop.

Using a PH #00 mount the two short screws (M2.5×4.5) of the fan.

Using a PH #00 mount the last screw (M2.5×6.5) that secure the fan to the top cover. This is the longer one.

Reinstall the fan cable. Hold it with your finger near the end and push it straight into the connector. If you don't manage to do it with your fingers, use the tweezers.

Reinstall the tape labeled as light blue in the third picture. Add electrical tape to the edge in common between the heatsink and the fan if the thin black stripe which was there is not sticky anymore as it was in my case.

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Fast fertig!

You dit it! Great ;) Now comes the easy part. You could take a short break, relax and then come back to reassemble your laptop. Start from the step #8 and follow the instructions in reverse order. That's all! Cheers

Abschluss

You dit it! Great ;) Now comes the easy part. You could take a short break, relax and then come back to reassemble your laptop. Start from the step #8 and follow the instructions in reverse order. That's all! Cheers